1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus and method, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus including a multi-processor to simultaneously process a plurality of print data to form an image, and an image forming method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses, such as printers and multi-function peripherals (MFPs), have a print function to form an image according to input print data. A processor used in an image forming apparatus generates image data that the image forming apparatus can recognize by processing input print data, and the image forming apparatus prints the image data.
A processor used in a conventional image forming apparatus cannot simultaneously process a plurality of print data. That is, the processor must sequentially process each of the plurality of print data separately.
Thus, when a plurality of print data is to be processed, the conventional image forming apparatus spends more time to form images corresponding to input print data. For example, if input print data I contains information regarding four colors C, M, Y, and K, the processor sequentially processes print data Ic, Im, Iy, and Ik corresponding to the four colors. As a result, when the conventional image forming apparatus prints the print data I, it takes about four times longer to print the color data C as compared to the time it takes to print a single color when the input print data contains information regarding only the single color, such as only the color data C.
In addition, the processor not only processes print data, but also is involved in a general operation of an image forming apparatus. Thus, the processing load of the conventional image forming apparatus increases when more types of data have to be printed.